The IEEE 802.16 wireless networking standard includes an “idle mode” for wireless user devices that are not currently involved in active communication. The idle mode is designed to reduce power consumption within the wireless user devices of the network. User devices within a network that are in idle mode are tracked by the network using paging and location update procedures. This paging may be used to, for example, determine the location of a particular user device in a network and to establish a call involving the user device. While in idle mode, a user device does not maintain a continuous active connection with the network. Instead, a paging cycle is established during which the device will occasionally wake up to listen for paging activity in the network. If paging commands are received by the device during this listening time, the user device will act in accordance with the commands. There is a need for techniques to manage idle mode operations in a wireless network in an efficient manner.